| 曹 | cáo | class or grade; generation; plaintiff and defendant (old); government department (old); surname Cao; Zhou Dynasty vassal state |
| 曹操 | Cáo Cāo | Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei 曹魏, father of Emperor Cao Pi 曹丕; the main villain of novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms 三国演义 |
| 曹魏 | Cáo Wèi | Cao Wei, the most powerful of the Three Kingdoms, established as a dynasty in 220 by Cao Pi 曹丕, son of Cao Cao, replaced by Jin dynasty in 265 |
| 曹雪芹 | Cáo Xuě qín | Cao Xueqin (c. 1715-c. 1764), accepted author of Dream of Red Mansions 红楼梦 |
| 曹丕 | Cáo Pī | Cao Pi (187-226), second son of Cao Cao 曹操, king then emperor of Cao Wei 曹魏 from 220, ruled as Emperor Wen 魏文帝, also a noted calligrapher |
| 曹锟 | Cáo Kūn | Cao Kun (1862-1938), one of the Northern Warlords |
| 三曹 | Sān Cáo | the Three Caos (Cao Cao 曹操 and his sons Cao Pi 曹丕 and Cao Zhi 曹植), who established the Wei or Cao Wei dynasty 曹魏, and were all three noted poets and calligraphers |
| 市曹 | shì cáo | market; official in charge of small merchants |
| 曹不兴 | Cáo Bù xīng | Cao Buxing or Ts'ao Pu-hsing (active c. 210-250), famous semi-legendary painter, one of the Four Great Painters of the Six dynasties 六朝四大家 |
| 曹刚川 | Cáo Gāng chuān | Cao Gangchuan (1935-), former artillery officer, senior PRC politician and army leader |
| 曹植 | Cáo Zhí | Cao Zhi (192-232), son of Cao Cao 曹操, noted poet and calligrapher |
| 曹冲 | Cáo Chōng | Cao Chong (196-208), son of Cao Cao 曹操 |
| 曹禺 | Cáo Yú | Cao Yu (1910-1997), PRC dramatist |
| 曹县 | Cáo xiàn | Cao county in Heze 菏泽, Shandong |
| 曹靖华 | Cáo Jìng huá | Cao Jinghua (1897-1987), translator from Russian, professor of Beijing University and essayist |
| 曹余章 | Cáo Yú zhāng | Cao Yuzhang (1924-), modern writer and publisher, author of narrative history 上下五千年 |
| 绑赴市曹 | bǎng fù shì cáo | to bind up and take to the market (idiom); to take a prisoner to the town center for execution |
| 说曹操曹操就到 | shuō Cáo Cāo Cáo Cāo jiù dào | lit. speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives; fig. speak of the devil and he doth appear |
| 赴阴曹 | fù yīn cáo | to enter hell |
| 身在曹营心在汉 | shēn zài Cáo yíng xīn zài Hàn | live in Cao camp but have the heart in Han camp (idiom.); to be somewhere while longing to be somewhere else |
| 军曹鱼 | jūn cáo yú | cobia or black kingfish (Rachycentron canadum) |
| 阴曹 | yīn cáo | hell; the inferno |
| 阴曹地府 | yīn cáo dì fǔ | netherworld; Kingdom of the Underworld; Hades |
